The Puzzle of Left-handedness

The Puzzle of Left-handedness PDF Author: Rik Smits
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1861899742
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama have both signed bills into law with their left hands. And being left-handed certainly did not hold back the artistic achievements of Michelangelo or Raphael. And the dexterous guitar playing of Jimmi Hendrix may only have been aided by his southpaw tendencies. Left-handedness, in fact, would appear to be no big deal. Yet throughout history, it has been associated with clumsiness and generally dubious personality traits like untrustworthiness and insincerity. Even the Latin word for left, sinister, has ominous connotations. In The Puzzle of Left-handedness, Rik Smits uncovers why history has been so unkind to our lefthanded forebears. He carefully puts together the pieces of the puzzle, presenting an array of historical anecdotes, strange superstitions, and weird wives’ tales. Smits explains how left-handedness continues to be associated with maladies of all kinds, including mental retardation, alcoholism, asthma, hay fever, cancer, diabetes, insomnia, depression, and criminality. Even in the enlightened twenty-first century, left-handedness still meets with opposition—including from one prominent psychologist who equates it with infantile negativism, similar to a toddler’s refusal to eat what’s on his plate, and another who claims that left-handed people have average lifespans that are nine years shorter than those who favor the right hand. As Smits reminds us, such speculation is backed by little factual evidence, and the arguments presented by proponents of right-handedness tend to be humorously absurd. The Puzzle of Left-handedness is an enlightening, engaging, and entertaining odyssey through the puzzles and paradoxes, theories and myths, of left-handed lore. Chock full of facts and fiction, it’s a book to be read with both hands.

The Puzzle of Left-handedness

The Puzzle of Left-handedness PDF Author: Rik Smits
Publisher: Reaktion Books
ISBN: 1861899742
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Get Book Here

Book Description
Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama have both signed bills into law with their left hands. And being left-handed certainly did not hold back the artistic achievements of Michelangelo or Raphael. And the dexterous guitar playing of Jimmi Hendrix may only have been aided by his southpaw tendencies. Left-handedness, in fact, would appear to be no big deal. Yet throughout history, it has been associated with clumsiness and generally dubious personality traits like untrustworthiness and insincerity. Even the Latin word for left, sinister, has ominous connotations. In The Puzzle of Left-handedness, Rik Smits uncovers why history has been so unkind to our lefthanded forebears. He carefully puts together the pieces of the puzzle, presenting an array of historical anecdotes, strange superstitions, and weird wives’ tales. Smits explains how left-handedness continues to be associated with maladies of all kinds, including mental retardation, alcoholism, asthma, hay fever, cancer, diabetes, insomnia, depression, and criminality. Even in the enlightened twenty-first century, left-handedness still meets with opposition—including from one prominent psychologist who equates it with infantile negativism, similar to a toddler’s refusal to eat what’s on his plate, and another who claims that left-handed people have average lifespans that are nine years shorter than those who favor the right hand. As Smits reminds us, such speculation is backed by little factual evidence, and the arguments presented by proponents of right-handedness tend to be humorously absurd. The Puzzle of Left-handedness is an enlightening, engaging, and entertaining odyssey through the puzzles and paradoxes, theories and myths, of left-handed lore. Chock full of facts and fiction, it’s a book to be read with both hands.

The Clue of the Left-Handed Envelope

The Clue of the Left-Handed Envelope PDF Author: George E. Stanley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0689821948
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 66

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Book Description
Todd uses clues from earwax and a pink handkerchief in order to discover which of his schoolmates has been in his treehouse.

The Left-Handed Fate

The Left-Handed Fate PDF Author: Kate Milford
Publisher: Macmillan
ISBN: 0805098003
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 385

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Book Description
"A quest story to find the three pieces of a magical engine which can either win the War of 1812 ... or stop it altogether"--

Handedness and Brain Asymmetry

Handedness and Brain Asymmetry PDF Author: Marian Annett
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1134950748
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 405

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Book Description
Brain asymmetry for speech is moderately related to handedness but what are the rules? Are symmetries for hand and brain associated with characteristics such as intelligence, motor skill, spatial reasoning or skill at sports? In this follow up to the influential Left, Right Hand and Brain (1985) Marian Annett draws on a working lifetime of research to help provide answers to crucial questions. Central to her argument is the Right Shift Theory - her original and innovative contribution to the field that seeks to explain the relationships between left-and right-handedness and left-and right-brain specialisation. The theory proposes that handedness in humans and our non-human primate relations depends on chance but that chance is weighted towards right-handedness in most people by an agent of right-hemisphere disadvantage. It argues for the existence of a single gene for right shift (RS+) that evolved in humans to aid the growth of speech in the left hemisphere of the brain. The Right Shift Theory has possible implications for a wide range of questions about human abilities and disabilities, including verbal and non verbal intelligence, educational progress and dyslexia, spatial reasoning, sporting skills and mental illness. It continues to be at the cutting edge of research, solving problems and generating new avenues of investigation - most recently the surprising idea that a mutant RS+ gene might be involved in the causes of schizophrenia and autism. Handedness and Brain Asymmetry will make fascinating reading for students and researchers in psychology and neurology, educationalists, and anyone with a keen interest in why people have different talents and weaknesses.

The Natural Superiority of the Left-hander

The Natural Superiority of the Left-hander PDF Author: James T. De Kay
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780871313096
Category : American wit and humor, Pictorial
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
A lighthearted look at the inside-out world of left-handedness, seeking to prove what left-handers have always suspected - they are not only different from everybody else, they are better. Drawing on NASA statistics and neurological surgical research, the book makes its points with sly good humour.

Lefty Crosswords

Lefty Crosswords PDF Author: M. Diehl
Publisher: Puzzlewright
ISBN: 9781454929895
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Most crosswords aren't friendly to lefties. With grids on the right side of the page, they can't write their answers without covering up half the clues! This book is designed just for them, with every grid on the left and every other page printed upside down, so solvers never have to let their hand rest on the spiral binding. Plus, every puzzle's theme is about famous southpaws or left-handedness. Being left never felt so right!

The Clue of the Left-Handed Envelope/The Puzzle of the Pretty Pink Handkerchief

The Clue of the Left-Handed Envelope/The Puzzle of the Pretty Pink Handkerchief PDF Author: George E. Stanley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0689871066
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
Todd and Noelle use the detective skills they learn from their new teacher Mr. Merlin to figure out who sent a classmate an anonymous letter and find out who has been using Todd's tree house without his permission.

The Puzzle of the Pretty Pink Handkerchief

The Puzzle of the Pretty Pink Handkerchief PDF Author: George E. Stanley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0689822324
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description
Todd uses clues from earwax and a pink handkerchief in order to discover which of his schoolmates has been in his treehouse.

A Left Hand Turn Around the World

A Left Hand Turn Around the World PDF Author: David Wolman
Publisher: Da Capo Press
ISBN: 9780306814983
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Traveling from the halls of history to the halls of science, Wolman explores a Scottish castle designed for left-handed swordfights, visits a Paris museum to inspect nineteenth-century brains that hold clues to this biological puzzle, and observes chimps with a primatologist in Atlanta who may help unravel the evolutionary mystery of left-handedness. Along the way, Wolman meets fellow left-handers who share his sense of kinship and reveal the essence of Southpaw. There is sinister Diabolos Rex, follower of the Left Hand Path; and John Evans, an amputee whose left hand was reattached to his right arm. In Japan, Wolman tees off with the National Association of Left-Handed Golfers and seeks wisdom from a left-handed baseball legend. A seamless blend of science, travel, culture, and humor, this inquisitive exploration of all things Southpaw is sure to be the perfect book for lefties and for all the righties who love them.

Ursula K. Le Guin's the Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin's the Left Hand of Darkness PDF Author: Harold Bloom
Publisher: Chelsea House
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
A collection of nine critical essays on the modern social science fiction novel, arranged in chronological order of their original publication.